Ancient Mexico in the British MuseumThe rise of independent civilization in Mesoamerica can be traced back at least 3000 years. A rich and varied geography helped shape an extraordinarily diverse array of cultures on the Gulf coast and in the Maya lowlands and the Mexican highlands. Based on the Mexican collections of the British Museum, this illustrated title introduces the prehispanic art of Mesoamerica. Among the masterpieces illustrated are Olmec ceremonial jade objects, Maya lintels, and Aztec turquoise mosaics. Not only is there remarkable continuity within the distinctive regional cultures, there is also evidence for widely-shared beliefs in powerful nature gods and for practices such as the Mesoamerica ball game. This book points to the most important of these connections and to recent advances in our understanding of a complex and largely unwritten story. |
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America ancestral Ancient archaeological architectural Aztec ball ball-court bears Bird British Museum calendar capital central CENTRAL HIGHLAND centre centuries ceremonial civilisations Classic Veracruz Codex collections complex costume creation culture deities depicted detail drawing early earth emerging Ethno Facing female figure figurine Fire FORMATIVE four Gallery Given glyph Gulf Coast GULF OF MEXICO head headdress highlands Huaxtec human illustrated images important Isla de Sacrificios jade Jaguar king known Lady later lintels London Lord major marked mask Maya Mesoamerican Mexican miles Mixtec Monte mosaic motifs Oaxaca objects offerings Olmec ornament PACIFIC OCEAN painted pair POSTCLASSIC Pottery PRECLASSIC presentation Press probably Publications record representing ritual rulers scenes sculpture seated serpent Shield stands stone Structure suggest symbol temples Tenochtitlan Teotihuacan Tlaloc Toltec tombs trade Turquoise University Valley vessel wears West Mexico Yaxchilan Zapotec